“Doesn’t matter.”
“It’s over now.” I pulled away and lifted my chin to look into his face.
His eyes were so wet, a tear formed and dripped down his cheek. He maintained a serious expression, his mouth still and his eyes unashamed. He couldn’t combat the emotion, but he didn’t let it increase either. The tear made its way to his chin.
I kissed it away.
He closed his eyes at my touch, and when he opened them again, the emotion was cleared away. “I slit their throats. Every last one of them.”
I didn’t want to hear this, but I didn’t interrupt him.
“I didn’t go for the quickest kill. I forced them all to their knees, and one by one, I put a knife to their throat. They pissed and shit themselves. They begged for their lives, but I didn’t flinch. They took you away from me—and I made each one pay the price.”
“I know, Griffin,” I said gently.
His hand cupped my cheek again, and he stared into my eyes. “That will never happen again. This, I promise you.”
“I know.”
His thumb brushed across my cheek, and he sighed quietly under his breath. “Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
I held his gaze, showing my sincerity. “I’m not, Griffin.”
“Did they…?” He took a deep breath because he couldn’t finish the sentence. The thought pained him too much, more than the idea of them hurting me.
“No.” Thankfully, that didn’t happen. But if Griffin had taken an extra day to arrive, I probably wouldn’t have been able to give the same answer. “That man I asked you not to kill…”
His eyes shifted back and forth as he looked into mine.
“He tried…but I told him I would protect him if he stopped. I told him you would come for me, and when you did, I would make sure you spared him. So he didn’t do it. He changed his mind…because of you. Even when you weren’t in the same room, you protected me. That’s how powerful you are, Griffin.”
He closed his eyes and stepped back, unable to swallow the grief that filled his body. Crisis had been averted, but the fact that I had to leverage my freedom still killed him inside.
“Whether we’re together or apart, you always protect me, Griffin.” I pressed my hand to his cheek and willed him to open his eyes again. “We’re together now. Everything is alright. Let it go.”
He refused to look at me. “Losing my mother was the second worst thing that ever happened to me. She never came home, and until I was taken by the orphanage, I didn’t understand what had happened to her. It wasn’t until years later, when my classmates had birthday parties and celebrated holidays, that I understood what I was missing…that my mother should still be there. The worst thing that ever happened to me was losing you.” He opened his eyes and held my gaze, the fury deep within the look. “I can’t go through that again, baby. If I couldn’t save you…I would have put a barrel in my mouth and pulled the trigger.”
“Don’t say that—”
“It’s true.” His fingers moved into my hair. “I never would have forgiven myself. And I certainly couldn’t live with that guilt, with your memory haunting me. I will protect you as long as I live, because whatever happens to you, happens to me too. And I promise that I will never let anything happen again. Never.”
“I know…”
“It shouldn’t have happened at all. I should have listened to your father sooner. He was right.”
“It doesn’t matter now. It’s over.” My hands wrapped around his wrists. “Everyone we love is safe. All our enemies are dead. So let’s go home…and have that quiet life we’ve always talked about.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “You’re forgiving me too quickly, baby.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. No matter what happens in our lives, I know you will always save me. I’m not afraid of anything. Why would I be when I have you?” I closed my eyes as I felt him, felt the connection between both of our souls. “Now take me home.”
He kissed my forehead before he finally released me. The emotion that was in his eyes was gone because he quickly bottled it up inside, refusing to show that kind of weakness to anyone but me.
My father walked up to him. Instead of carrying resentment for the man who had caused all of this in the first place, he wrapped his arms around Griffin and hugged him tightly, treating him the way he would Conway. “I’m glad you made it back okay. Was worried there for a minute.”
“Don’t ever worry about me, Crow.”
Seeing the way Bones interacted with my father always brought tears to my eyes. The two men I loved most in the world were close now, and that gave me such happiness. It was what I always wanted, for them to have their own relationship.